Logical reasoning PrepTest 143 · Section 1 · Question 24

Incorrect. The conclusion of the stimulus is that these surveys won't be influenced by the surveyor's expectations, not that the survey won't be flawed, so this answer is out of scope.

Incorrect. If a survey is well-constructed, then the individuals with strong opinions won't be influenced by expectations, nor will the other respondents, and so this answer aligns with the conclusion.

Incorrect. Others do, and a well-constructed survey would prevent those expectations from biasing responses, according to the stimulus. This answer, similar to (B), brings up a group that may not be affected by the "solution" here, but it still aligns with the conclusion and thus doesn't highlight a possibility the argument overlooks that creates problems for it.

Incorrect. This provides another reason that surveys may not reflect the actual views of those being surveyed, so it actually aligns with the argument.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Some people answer opinion surveys with what they think the surveyor wants to hear, throwing off the results. Good surveys are written so surveyor expectations aren't clear, so good surveys aren't affected by these expectations.

Answer Anticipation:
There's a key word early on in this stimulus that should get you to start thinking about a common flaw on the LSAT—"believe." Whenever the LSAT starts talking about anything subjective—what people think, believe, say, etc . . . —you should consider a potential jump between subjective belief and objective fact.

Here, the noted belief is what survey respondents believe the surveyors expect to hear, and it states that this belief affects their responses. It then tries to solve this problem by noting that well-designed surveys don't give an indication of what the surveyor expects to hear. While that may mean that the respondent can't know the expectations of the surveyor, it doesn't mean that they can't believe the surveyor is expecting a certain response. So even in a well-designed survey, a desire to meet expectations could influence responses even if those expectations aren't communicated.

We have one more consideration before heading to the answer choices—the question stem asks us to highlight a possibility the argument overlooks, one that undermines it (it's not a flaw to overlook a possibility that helps or does nothing to the argument). We can get more specific with our prephrase, then—it overlooks the possibility that someone might believe the surveyor has a certain expectation despite no such expectation being communicated.

Answer Explanation:
This answer highlights the jump from the subjective belief to the objective statement in the stimulus. The causal relationship established isn't about the actual expectations of the surveyors, but rather about the belief that the respondents have about the surveyors expectations. Even if a well-constructed survey prevents people from getting a hint as to expected answers, people might still believe that a certain answer is expected and answer accordingly, thus throwing off the results. This answer raises a possibility that undermines the conclusion and that the argument ignores, so it's the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
People believe irrational and untrue things all the time. Whenever the LSAT brings up subjective knowledge or beliefs, make sure that they're not jumping between that and objective fact, or objective fact and those beliefs. As here, just because something didn't exist doesn't mean people won't believe it does.